E3 2009: Xbox 720, 'Live Anywhere' and more

Microsoft to talk about its longer term vision for gaming

The last two E3's have been muted affairs, with the main three press conferences from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft being marked by a short-term business focus, as opposed to (the more exciting) outlining longer-term visions and plans for console gaming.

Hopefully, this is going to change at E3 2009, with a return to the bigger E3 show of old at the cavernous LA Convention Centre planned.

Comments from Microsoft Games Studios' boss Phil Spencer have certainly got gamers excited about E3, with Spencer noting in the latest Major Nelson podcast:

"The last two E3s at least, if I use that as a proxy for what's coming, we've talked a lot about what is coming in the next five to six months after E3, and we've had some pressure that maybe we want to think a little broader about what we want to say at E3, a little further out in the future."

Xbox 720, 'Live Anywhere' and more

He adds: "I came out of an E3 planning meeting just about an hour ago, and we were looking at some of the plans for the future and things that we might want to tease, and it's very exciting.

"There's a lot of stuff on the docket, and maybe we'll break the bank a little bit and talk about things that are further out, which will hopefully get the community excited."

Let the random speculation about Xbox One and the future of cross-platform mobile-PC-console gaming (the 'Live Anywhere' vision outlined by Bill Gates way back at E3 2006) begin.